On April 16, the second Innova-FI Local Stakeholder Group Meeting organized by Investment and Business Guarantees, Ltd (INVEGA) was held in Vilnius. Representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, the Ministry of Finance, Koinvesticinis fondas, Ltd, Nodus, Ltd and INVEGA gathered together to discuss financial instruments so that they best meet and serve the financing needs of innovative and RTDI-driven businesses.
Inspired by what was heard about the relevant ecosystem of Portugal (Startup Lisboa, Portugal Ventures) and of Slovenia (Business Angel Network) during the second exchange of experience of Financial Instruments for Innovation project (Innova-FI) meeting in Lisbon, the participants of the Local Stakeholder Group Meeting exchanged their views about the Lithuanian start-up ecosystem.
Roberta Rudokiene, Head of Startup Lithuania, presented the overview of Lithuanian Startup Ecosystem, followed by the discussion of the main 2018’s achievements and challenges to trigger the future growth of start-ups. Ignas Slapkauskas, representing SME – Nodus, Ltd and European Horizon 2020 Programme Committee made a presentation about the new instruments, which were created for the entrepreneurs under the European Innovation Council (EIC). EIC pilot supports researchers and innovators developing high-risk, breakthrough innovations with the potential to create new markets and boost jobs, growth and prosperity in Europe. It pilots two new schemes: a) the EIC Pathfinder pilot (grant only), comprising FET-Open and FET-Proactive; b) the EIC Accelerator pilot (grant only and blended finance), building upon the SME Instrument.
Within the framework of the Interreg Europe project, Innova-FI, INVEGA together with its partners from Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Spain and Slovenia, are exploring existing financial instruments to finance small and medium-sized enterprises RDI activities.
